sleekbrian

iTrader: (1)

Back Story: 4 months ago I had my front bumper and driver side fender repainted. The body guy claimed my car died in his shop. He jumped it and brought it back to my house. The car then died again in my garage (my car has never died on me in my 2 years of ownership.) I had just left to go to Italy for 4 months so we left it dead in my garage for 4 months.

Fastforward 4 months...
Now that im back, I had my battery replaced with a new one. It worked for one day, then died the next. I jumped it again and since then it hasn't died on me again. Although I have been driving fine, i knew something was up. I brought it in to a shop and they said something is draining my battery. They did some electrical testing and they put this in their notes: "0.57 when you start, then drops .18 - .16. Normal .05, but it takes about 20-30 min to get there. Too long and car will die."

In simple terms they said that my car's computer should go to "sleep" in about a minute after i walk away from my car, but instead it is taking about 20-30 minutes. Because of this my car keeps dying. They advised me to go to the dealership and have them look at it.

Im worried that this will end up costing me a fortune with replacing large expensive parts and labor. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for reading.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Why was the bumper and fender repainted? Were you in an accident or something? If so, perhaps the accident pinched or cut some wires.

sleekbrian

iTrader: (1)

Yes, I was involved in a minor accident. Another car lightly hit my front fender trying to merge into my lane, he pulled off immediately. There was minimal damage on my fender and i could have honestly left it that way. Of course i decided to get it fixed, i also decided to get my front bumper repainted cause of all the rock chips (it had no part in the accident.)

I have brought it in to two mechanics, one of them being a lexus technician and they both seem baffled. The lexus tech wants to take a whole day to look at it, but his schedule is inflexible and I am starting school next week. Should i just bring it in through the dealer? I just don't want to be charged a fortune

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

could be the alternator pulling the charge.

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

Maybe try to see if the trunk light is left on after the car is off? Or try to pull fuses on different compoents of the car like lights or stereo system see which is causing the problem.

sleekbrian

iTrader: (1)

That's what i initially thought, but my mechanic said it's not

Could it really be the trunk light? I guess it's worth a shot, i'll take a look tonight. I think my mechanic plans on checking all the fuses and what not. I know he did check some of them already.

One of the mechanics that diagnosed my car was saying that he thinks something is wrong with my car's computer, but i have no knowledge of this stuff. If this is the case, how will they be able to fix it? With programming, or expensive parts...?

Thanks for the help so far!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Pics of damage please and was the fender/ bumper pulled off the car to be repaired/painted?

sleekbrian

iTrader: (1)

unfortunately i no longer have pictures since they were on my phone which broke a few days ago and was replaced. The damage was barely visible through pictures and more noticeable in person. The edge of the fender directly above the wheel was scratched. The bumper was definitely removed, but im not sure about the fender.

Im sorry I can't provide the best info

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Personally, I would start by removing the fender and bumper that was removed for repair and see what surprises might be behind them.

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

Good idea! There maybe some wires that have fried

dat-is350

iTrader: (2)

I had a similar issue with my battery draining. The problem for me was that the steering wheel column lock mechanism didn't shut off when I turned off my car. It stayed on and in turn left my auto headlights turned on and drained my battery.

sleekbrian

iTrader: (1)

I'll tell my mechanic to take a look, thanks!

Interesting, how did they discover that was the issue though?

Krizzle

iTrader: (2)

Never Hearing of wheel column loco busto that males sense. I would pull the fender, I bet there is a pinched wire or connector somewhere.

sleekbrian

iTrader: (1)

My car has been at a Lexus Dealership and a mechanic i know is working on my car. He's been working on it for 2 full days, stripping it down and checking nearly everything. He still has not found the problem. He's starting to think its the ECU, which is incredibly expensive. I'm starting to get really worried about the costs involved with this issue. If anyone else has any other guesses or suggestions, please let me know!

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

Electrical works is a pain! I dont think it is wise to leave it with the dealer, if the cars not under warranty or insurance. If you are paying out of pocket I would take it to someone who specializes in electrical and knows lexus/toyotas.

There are mechanics that will parts slap and not diagnose the car very well, sadly a lot of dealers do this.